Hurricane Season
by electric gurrl
Summary: Despite the tempest of rage and love tearing them both to shreds, Azula and Ty Lee just keep chasing the storm. Tyzula. Complete.
1. Her Soul is Woven From Starlight

A/N: **Some Quick Facts About This Fic:  
>Chapters: <strong>4  
><strong>Pairing: <strong>Azula / Ty Lee with hints of Zuko/Suki.  
><strong>Rated: <strong>M for many, many lemons, coarse language, moderate violence, an abusive relationship and liquor.  
><strong>Notes:<strong> This is kind of a dark musing on Tyzula, so there's really not fluff, but a lot of smut and romance. There is a happy ending, though. It also was very spontaneous. It just kind of came out of my fingers and I just divided into four and cleaned it up. I'm happy with it despite the spontaneity.

* * *

><p>Part One: Her Soul is Woven from Starlight<p>

* * *

><p>"Did you know that we had zero revolutions before you took the throne?" Azula says pleasantly as she peers out of the window at the violence in the street.<p>

She and Zuko are currently locked in a restaurant, surrounded by the royal guard. They fought their way here, Azula even helping her brother despite how convenient this would be ─ as if anyone would ever allow her to be Fire Lord at this point ─ and now they are hiding with next to no shame. The streets erupted, just as they have multiple times this summer.

It has been nicknamed the Scorched Summer because of all of the burned down buildings. And the military has proven almost entirely useless. But it is not a _dry _summer by far, because there have been four monsoons in the past few weeks. Hurricanes and bloody uprisings in the street a full decade after Sozin's Comet startled the government of the Fire Nation. They were not prepared for it.

"We're going to get help. Aang is sending the Kyoshi Warriors," Zuko remarks casually, trying not to look out of the window.

Azula releases the curtain she has been holding. She turns to Zuko with her eyebrows nearly touching her raven hair.

"_What_?" she demands and Zuko feels his stomach lurch. If she panics, he is entirely screwed. "When did you learn this? Why wouldn't you tell me? Answer me!"

"You're not, you're not giving me a chance to answer you. Please take deep breaths," Zuko groans, rubbing his temples. "I'm as uncomfortable with this as you are."

"No! No I don't think you are. Don't act like your little affair is more significant than the worst break up in the history of time!" Azula screeches and Zuko glances for help at the royal guard. They do not budge. "So you betrayed one of your best friends! I fucked one of my best friends and now she hates me forever!"

Zuko swallows and does not want to get into this. Azula has been a road difficult to travel, but he has taken it with her. Her recovery was slow and is still not over, but he has to admit her relationship glued her together for some time. The breakup surprised Zuko even more than his surprise and disgust at himself for betraying Sokka.

And he knows very well that Ty Lee being in Caldera again will not be healthy for his sister. He simply breathes deeply and waits for her to finish ranting in a long, shrill tirade that hurts his ears and make him want to squirm. He learned that approach from his uncle and it serves him very well when dealing with Azula's multitude of outbursts and tantrums.

The royal siblings are escorted away from the bloody massacre in the streets, making it to the palace to their overwhelming relief. Azula is still seething about her brother neglecting to tell her about the Kyoshi Warriors coming to Caldera, and she locks herself in her bedroom as soon as they arrive at home.

She gazes at the picture of she, Mai and Ty Lee plastered on the wall. Never has she torn it down, despite many desires to do so. It sticks to the wall, staring at her, asking her why she let her only romantic relationship fall through the cracks.

Wiping the sweat from her alabaster skin, she closes her eyes.

This is going to be a long summer.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Ten Years Post-Comet<strong>_

_ "I want you to leave," Azula says sharply and Ty Lee grits her teeth._

_ It has been another week of endless fighting, endless clashing. They rip out each other's throats with their violent words and crumbling emotions. Their love always has been twisted, an erotic nightmare and an endless, sensual daydream. But Ty Lee is growing close to the broiling point, and Azula is tired._

_ "After everything I've done for you..." Ty Lee murmurs, but she does not feel the need to defend herself against Azula or justify her actions._

_ She has held the princess while she broke down, while she cried. Their lips have touched and their bodies screamed for each other. Ty Lee has done everything in her power to guide Azula to recovery, to the ability to even function as a human. She took Azula back home and claimed her as her own._

_ But they are becoming tired. It has been nearly five years of dating each other, and each day they love each other less, yet each day they love each other more. And it is complicated, unfair and toxic. Ty Lee wants to escape, but she does not want to abandon Azula. And Azula just wants her life to be simpler than it is with Ty Lee._

_ "I told you I want you to leave. Don't stay," Azula snarls and Ty Lee takes two steps backwards._

_ She studies the princess's eyes and responds, "Fine. I will."_

_ Ty Lee is gone by morning, returning to Kyoshi Island and her life there. There is no reason to stay with Azula, not a single one. All she can do is try to control her hatred and move on. Moving on is almost a joke after everything she has given to Azula._

_ But she just feigns a smile and tries to forget._

_ Azula pretends to move on from Ty Lee. She lurks in the palace and makes snide comments and self soothes after her own nightmares, sleepwalking and anxiety attacks. She can control herself without Ty Lee and their sick dependence on each other._

_ The worst lies are the lies we tell ourselves._

_And Azula and Ty Lee are both pretending, pretending, pretending with some lies to themselves on the side._

_ But time passes, people move on, and life stops for no one._

_ Even when you're heartbroken._

* * *

><p>In the morning, Ty Lee wakes up with her first feigned, trivial smile of the day and pretends ─ even to herself ─ that everything is okay. And today things are far, far from okay because she can feel the ship nearing land, nearing the home she avoids like the plague.<p>

Maybe it is not her home that perturbs her the most, but the people there certainly do. It is a place of muddied feelings and wistful longing for a past that does not exist anymore and maybe never existed. It is a place of love, loss, her first heartbreak, her last heartbreak.

She wants to be burned there when she dies. That is it. She never wanted to lay her living eyes on Caldera again, but here she is. Here she is, all because the Avatar insisted that the Kyoshi Warriors help protect Zuko... and Azula.

As if Ty Lee did not protect them both for years. As if Ty Lee did not become the guardian of Princess Azula. She returned what was lost for brief seconds only to watch Azula squander it from her own selfishness and that was when it ended.

If Azula wants to build her own pyre, she can go right ahead. Ty Lee does not love her anymore. She does not want the life she used to want, where she and Azula would live happily ever after because that pursuit was a waste of time.

Not a waste. Not a waste at all when she watched Azula slowly making progress. But one step forward, two steps back and Ty Lee just got too scared of the life she was burying herself in. Her dreams faded and she decided to break free, because she _had _to or they would die together.

When she walks to the deck of the ship she has already put herself together by screaming into her pillow four or five times and taking several deep breaths. She will _not _get caught in Azula's web. She _can't_.

"Are you worried about facing Azula?" Suki asks so calmly and casually. Ty Lee has the urge to slap her across the face, but simply blinks.

"Are you worried about facing Zuko?" Ty Lee replies, her voice like artificial sugar. Suki clears her throat and feels slightly uncomfortable for raising the subject.

"I think it'll be nice to see Zuko again," Suki offers and Ty Lee knows it is a lie. Their romance almost _pained _Ty Lee to watch. They were burning each other to an extent worse than Ty Lee and Azula, because at least Azula and Ty Lee loved each other and not other people.

"Do you still...?" Ty Lee does not know the right word for it.

"Yes," Suki says with a certain graveness in her tone. Ty Lee escapes before she has to talk about Azula.

It is broiling hot. The air is humid and thick, not the usual dry heat of the Fire Nation. There have been an abnormal amount of hurricanes this year, and Ty Lee is sure that has contributed to the discontent of the people and the popularization of the New Ozai Society.

Some stories just don't deserve a happy ending. Suki cheating on her fiance with her best friend is one of them, as much as Ty Lee loves her. The mad princess and the girl-who-tried is a dark twisted fairy tale with no ending in sight.

Some stories just don't deserve a happy ending.

_Some stories just don't deserve a happy ending._

Ty Lee arrives in Caldera fidgeting. She feels violently ill and she finds herself hoping that Azula will lock herself away, but given that it will be an entire summer, she supposes she will have to face Azula at some point. And it will be painful no matter how it happens.

When she reaches the palace, Zuko is waiting for them. Suki averts her eyes when she first sees him, and then she looks up and locks eyes. He has a warm expression, as if he missed her. Ty Lee strongly doubts she will get the same expression from Azula if the princess even shows her face.

"It's wonderful to see you all," Zuko says, reaching to hug Suki and then hesitating. She embraces him slowly, unsure if it is the right move.

Ty Lee watches before Zuko hugs her as well, surprising her. He smells like his sister and she feels slightly weak in the knees. No, she has moved on. She has moved on. The worst lies are the lies we tell ourselves.

And then there are footsteps in the main hall where the fourteen Kyoshi Warriors stand. Azula has dressed up too much, with her red dress on and her raven done up like a beauty queen of Ba Sing Se. Ty Lee gazes at her for too long, her coral pink lips sealed shut.

"You all can stay in the palace," Zuko says and Azula flashes a glare at him. Her heart has skipped a beat as she is realizing she will have to share the same home with the woman who she vowed to never see again.

"Thank you, Zuko," Suki says as if addressing a friend and not a former lover.

Ty Lee wants to do the same to Azula, but she just stares at her feet and the glossy stone floor.

Azula purses her lips and hides the strong emotion washing over her.

* * *

><p>"It's another hurricane," Azula murmurs to herself as if it is a minor inconvenience.<p>

It is not as if she has to do anything for her nation at this point. Most of the populace likes pretending she does not exist, turning their heads and quickly looking away if she is in public. She has no loyalty to them anymore. Why would she?

She watches the gathering of clouds while resting her elbow on the tarnished gold windowsill of her bedroom. Basked in red glow and bathed in the constant flashes of lightning, she chews on her chapped lower lip and tries her best not to think about Ty Lee for too long.

They tear each other apart. They _rip _at each other until there is absolutely nothing left. But it is like she wants it. But two years have passed. Two years in which Azula thought she had moved on and made something of herself. But all of them are simply rendered obsolete by one glance.

One look is enough to seal her fate. Doomed to dance this eternal dance with her first love, who will likely be her last love. Whenever their teenage dream turned into an adult nightmare, Azula did not noticed it and neither did her lover. But she has taken a strong sleeping concoction and can't wake even though the dream is getting progressively darker.

As she studies the black and grey clouds over the Capitol, there is a knock on her door. She sighs, expecting it to be Zuko demanding something, and she stands to open it. Quickly, she feels bare in her silk nightdress as she stands in the doorway and looks at Ty Lee.

Given, she is draped in only a robe and her hair is untied and falling around her like a curtain. Azula gazes at her for a moment, unsure if she is real. Hoping she is not for a brief, flicker of a second.

"I can't sleep," Ty Lee whispers and Azula swallows her words. She simply nods at the bed and shuts the door behind Ty Lee. "Do you remember the ship back from Ba Sing Se, and I said I was cold so I could share a bed with you. I wasn't cold."

Azula tries to smile and cannot. "That was a long time ago."

Ty Lee just shrugs and sits down on Azula's bed. They examine each other for a moment like animals that have come across each other in the wild. The careful, chaotic eyes studying the other for whatever move they will make. Ty Lee swallows and wonders what she is supposed to do in this situation.

"You look nice," Ty Lee offers and Azula crosses her arms.

"I know," Azula says and Ty Lee makes an uncomfortable sound in the back of her throat. "Did you miss me?"

"Occasionally," Ty Lee says and she can see in Azula's eyes that she did too.

"I have no regrets. I can take care of myself without you gently stroking me and trying to... _care _for me," Azula says sharply and Ty Lee knows she is just on the defense. But it is for no reason; Ty Lee does not blame her. But perhaps Azula loathes Ty Lee for it.

But Ty Lee is glad to be free of her dependency on Azula. Despite the fact that she was just lying awake with a heat in her body she could not shake. The desire for Azula was strong, even if the princess would likely deny her.

"I'm going to be honest," Ty Lee says and Azula cocks an eyebrow. "I want you to fuck me."

Azula cannot even mask her surprise. She was certainly not expecting that.

She contemplates the drawbacks and benefits, and then walks to Ty Lee and initiates wordlessly. Ty Lee did not expect it to be so easy; neither did Azula. But they both want it desperately and thoroughly, without reprieve for their craving.

Ty Lee, if she respected herself as much as she thought she did, would shove Azula off of her. But instead she welcomes the touch because it makes her tingle, burn and develop a fever of arousal she cannot shake. She missed her lips, her tongue, her heated skin and the control she takes that makes Ty Lee feel beyond desired.

But they are broken up. This will only make a mess of their feelings.

Azula is still standing as she slips onto Ty Lee, straddling her. They are intertwined together for breathless, forceful moments, their tongues warring and lips pressing against each other over and over and over, hips grinding against each other to a certain rhythm that is both familiar and alien. Azula steps back for a moment to remove her nightdress. Ty Lee is unsure what to do as she reaches for her own light pink nightgown and green Earth Kingdom robe, but Azula seizes it and removes it violently. Ty Lee gasps and moans but is silenced by Azula on top of her again.

When their lips collide and crash, Azula sucks on Ty Lee's lower lip. The arc of the acrobat's back is welcome as they tear at each other, clinging as if they would drown if they did not. Maybe they owuld.

Ty Lee moans but it fades into Azula's forceful kiss, teeth and lips grazing against each other. This is possibly the messiest sex either of them have ever had but they both love it. Love it with frantic, palpitating hearts.

Their bare cleavage presses together as their bodies become so close they might as well be united in the Universe. Ty Lee has the sudden compulsion to gently push Azula onto her back. Azula breathes in and enjoys it, surrendering and closing her eyes for a brief moment as Ty Lee kisses her clavicle.

Her teeth dig into Azula's skin and the princess is stunned and confused as light pink lips leave bruises on pale skin. Ty Lee's lips touch her pink nipple and Azula has to gasp for breath and control herself before this becomes too serious.

Ty Lee is absorbed in the song of Azula's pleasure as she forgets all about their catastrophic break up or the fact that they have moved on, the buck of her hips, the fire that Ty Lee feels as Azula they burn, Azula's body incredibly hot, which Ty Lee quite likes. Ty Lee holds her down and Azula parts her legs.

Azula has seizes Ty Lee's hand with a fervor. Ty Lee allows to be controlled with sparkling dark eyes. She allows Azula guide her fingertips to Azula's navel.

Ty Lee circles her fingertip around Azula's clit and pushes two fingers into wet heat.

If only, if only they were not going to wound each other so terribly.

* * *

><p>"Why is it that you show up two days after she does?" is the first thing Mai asks when Azula walks through the door. "I probably should have expected this." Mai sighs.<p>

"You don't know that this is about Ty Lee. I could just be visiting you because I like you," Azula says sharply and Mai shrugs.

"Lucky guess," she replies as she shuts the door that Azula left open behind her. The princess is walking destruction, leaving chaos and carnage in her path wherever she goes. Mai finds it entertaining; most find it frustrating.

"So she came here?" Azula asks, inviting herself onto the sofa. Mai walks into the living room and sits across from Azula.

The apartment is surprisingly eclectic. Mostly because Mai has been reinventing herself in an aimless adulthood. Azula sees it in everyone. They were raised to know only one thing: how to fight a war. And so now when they try to live like normal human beings, they do not know who they are. If they are a person beneath the machine of conquest.

Azula gave up before she started. Mai has seemingly settled and it depresses the princess. And everyone else, Zuko's friends, familiar faces, enemies and allies are all just floating through a world they do not understand even ten years after the fighting ceased.

"Yup. She wanted to know everything about the past two years of your life. Azula, she's still very in love with you, so you don't have to torture me for information. There you go. Go get her. Run into her arms or something."

"I just think I'm at the point in my life where I want to run into my own arms."

"So, like your entire life."

"_No_. Well, yes. But I can't do it with her anymore. It is reckless and insane."

"Reckless and insane? Because you've been so calculated lately. So, what's so terrible about your relationship? You two were pretty much made for each other. You're both horrible people in ways that complement each other pretty well. Not that I'm a matchmaker or something, but really, neither of you is _ever _going to do better," Mai says calmly, casually, as if this is not Azula's entire life she is discussing.

_Entire life_. Ty Lee is not her _entire life_. Azula is _Ty Lee's _entire life, not the other way around. Princess Azula has fought and fought for years to even be able to control herself, and she does not need Ty Lee inserting herself into Azula's chest and kicking her ribs out from the inside. That is absolutely what it feels like. Like someone just goes inside of her and rearranges everything she has been trying to organize so she can even function as a human being.

"I can't do it," Azula says and Mai rubs her lips together.

"If you have your mind made up why are you asking me for advice?" Mai cocks an eyebrow and Azula resists the urge to shoot lightning through her smug amber eyes.

Azula brushes her manicured fingernails against her lips and can taste blood. It is her own, she realizes.

"We broke up for good reasons. We got together for terrible reasons. Lust and adrenaline and bullshit like that."

"_Right_. Because you're holding out for _true love_. Azula, you couldn't love someone if you tried. You have a cold storage shed in place of a heart, and she's the only person who is shallow, selfish and loveless enough to _want _that." Brief silence. "Have you two fucked yet?"

"No," Azula snaps and Mai makes a judgmental face. "Fuck you."

"Hmmm." Mai cocks an eyebrow in disbelief.

Azula makes a hissing sound. "Yes. There, yes. Lynch me for it. I've fucked her and I liked it and I am going to destroy my entire life over this," Azula groans, sinking into the sofa and intently studying the ceiling. The paint is slightly chipped and her eyes gravitate to the stark white against red.

"I'm not going to force this. I'm also not exactly the romance expert you're looking for. You clearly love her and crave her, but you also value your sanity, which I understand. So, I think you have to choose between absolute ecstasy and instability and stable, cold, comfortable, dull life with your brother," Mai says and Azula moans. With a shrug, Mai simply shakes her head. There is no more she can say.

"This is not what I was trained in," Azula sighs, and she has said it many times before.

She finds herself next to useless in a world based on peace. And while she was blinded by heat, passion and love for years, she couldn't see how bad the relationship was for her. And now she is losing her sight again. She finds herself next to useless in a world where another person matters to her.

"Me either."

"Maybe we should marry each other." Azula sounds genuinely hopeful.

"When we're thirty, if we're still not married, we will," Mai says earnestly and Azula makes another moaning sound. She seems even more distressed than Ty Lee, and Ty Lee was bouncing around shrieking nonsense and rearranging Mai's bookshelf.

"I honestly don't know what I'm supposed to do." Azula pauses. "Maybe I should just _ignore _her. There."

"Good luck," Mai says with a small, pitying sigh. "I mean it. _Good luck_."

Azula simply closes her eyes.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Seven Years Post-Comet<strong>_

_"Well, then we're going to stay up all night," Ty Lee says brightly, trying to put a positive spin on this. "It'll be fun."_

_ "Oh, let's pretend we're eleven. Wonderful. We're ten years too old for that," Azula says with a small, weak sigh. _

_ She is leaning against the headboard of her bed, her arms wrapped around herself. Ty Lee sits across from her, hiding her concern and racing heart. But Azula can see her pulse in her neck and how it rages in fits and starts. And it strikes Azula that she is more afraid of what Azula has become than the dominating monster Azula once was._

_ "I don't want to pretend anything," Ty Lee says and instantly regrets it._

_ "You spend every day of your life with me pretending. Pretending that we're normal. Pretending that it's okay. Well I'm done lying to myself," Azula says sharply and Ty Lee clears her throat. She does not know what else to say. "And I'm done lying to you."_

_ "If you want this to end..." Ty Lee does not know what else to say. _

_ She just talked Azula down from a panic attack and ran her fingers through her hair and now she is the villain. And sometimes she just wants to Azula to tell her to leave and never come back, but it does not happen. Ty Lee cannot bring herself to leave without being told to. She needs to stay. Need. Need. Need. It is _need_ and _dependency_ and far from _loyalty_._

_ "Azula," Ty Lee breathes, crawling across the bed and touching Azula's wrist. She presses her lips against those of the princess and tastes her. Azula threads her fingers in Ty Lee's hair. They are there and vibrant and alive._

_ They forget for a moment, pressed against each other. And Azula slides her hands to Ty Lee's hips and slips her fingers up further, lifting her shirt and removing it. The bows catch slightly on Ty Lee's chin, and Azula undoes it as Ty Lee shimmies out of her clothes._

_ Azula's touch moves to the cleavage of her girlfriend, to the response of melodic moans. It lights Azula ablaze; Ty Lee's nipples harden. Their lips touch more fiercely, Azula's forcing open Ty Lee's, resolving with the motions of their tongues and mingled breath._

_ Ty Lee lies Azula down and kisses down her body._

_ There is a momentary bliss, poisoned by the fight as it may be. Azula feels her and falls into her and they lie there afterwards half naked and half asleep. And Azula turns on her side to face Ty Lee, studying her intently._

_ Ty Lee blinks at Azula, slowly taking her in. She is so beautiful, beyond beautiful. But so shattered, and Ty Lee tries to pick up the shards of glass and sometimes only cuts her hands. It then fills her with guilt that she is thinking of Azula as a broken teacup instead of a person, so she leans against Azula and tries to fall asleep in her arms._

_ But they are both plagued by insomnia. Ty Lee closes her eyes and Azula murmurs things to her that she does not quite understand. The fight fades and the violence disappears, just as scars eventually do. Some scars, at least. Other scars of she and Azula's are never going to go away, in Ty Lee's opinion, and she is more optimistic about it than Azula is._

_ Azula touches her clavicle and considers fucking her again, but she silences those thoughts and decides to kiss her instead._

_ "Thank you for talking me down," Azula says, and that sweet nothing Ty Lee understands. Maybe it is a lie, but it is a lie that Ty Lee is comfortable hearing._

_ "I always will. I promise you I'm always going to be there," Ty Lee says and Azula slowly, gradually falls asleep._

_ Ty Lee lies away, in the afterglow, yet in mild pain. This has not been an easy journey, but she feels a strong, unwavering loyalty. Or maybe dependency. Ty Lee cannot tell if she is dependent or loyal, but either way, she could not leave Azula's side if she tried._

_ "I want," Azula purrs in the morning, the sun shining on her bare skin. The shadows and light make patterns on Ty Lee's body that Azula studies with aroused golden eyes, "to make you love me so much you ask for my permission to breathe."_

_ "I'm pretty sure we're already at that point," Ty Lee whispers._

_ And they kiss._

_ All is well, for a brief morning._

* * *

><p>"Take me some place with music," says a voice behind the princess and Azula hopes she is hallucinating. It would not be the first time in the past two years. "Maybe dancing?"<p>

Azula turns around slowly, hoping Ty Lee will fade, but she is standing there. Her lips are stained bright red to match her brand new Fire Nation clothes. She does not look the same; she does not smell the same. Her face is always a little more white than peachy as if she has been imbibed with her new life and culture.

"You know I can't," Azula says bitterly and Ty Lee simply rolls her eyes, undeterred.

"Let's just forget all about these revolts and the New Ozai Society and just do something really fun," Ty Lee offers with a small, warm smile that Azula feels as if is a lie.

"Alright." Azula hates herself for agreeing, but she does. "Let me get my coat."


	2. Her Body is Made of Gold

Part Two: Her Body is Made of Gold

* * *

><p>Azula takes Ty Lee to a bar in the nicest section of Caldera. They can barely stand to look at each other but Ty Lee makes dull small talk. She has always had a bad habit of talking a lot and not saying anything. It generally ends in Azula not listening and Ty Lee eternally frustrated.<p>

"Oh, music, that's a good sign," Ty Lee says, smiling. Azula heard that part, as she has just approached the bar that has been growing in popularity of late. Not that Azula has anyone to go with, because Mai seems to have a phobia of doing anything fun, and Azula generally is a shut-in.

For her birthday, Zuko bought Azula clothes ─ or, well, what his current horrible girlfriend thought would be nice clothes ─ uncomfortable dresses she would probably tear in half doing the most rudimentary bending in. Jewelry that would weigh her down if she attempted anything aerial. Shoes that were not made for scaling walls.

And then she realized she never even left the palace. She could not remember the last time she left the house at that point. This was further confirmed when Mai's gifts consisted entirely of pajamas and indoor activities.

The perfect birthday for her shut-in lifestyle. She may as well be a fugitive again.

Ty Lee used to liberate her from the palace. Ty Lee made a definite, powerful effort to keep Azula from hiding forever. Which was, originally, the plan after Azula's surrender. And _how _surrendering damaged her.

"You're going to buy me a drink, right?" Ty Lee asks and Azula shrugs. The Kyoshi Warrior bites the inside of her cheek and wonders why she is doing this. Getting involved with Azula is the dumbest possible thing she can do.

Then again, no one ever commended her on her intelligence.

They walk inside and no one notices them. Ty Lee wonders if anyone recognizes Azula anymore, or, even if they ever did if she was not shouting her titles in their faces. She slips her hand to Azula's and intertwines their fingers; tonight they are just an ordinary couple, not two devastating tsunamis.

Azula contemplates pulling her hand away but decides against it. For the first time since Zuko informed her the Kyoshi Warriors were coming, Azula considers that Ty Lee may not be a terrible idea. She does, in her pretty pink dress, look stunning. And Azula feels so alive, as if some of the vibrancy of Ty Lee rubs off on her.

It is hot and smells like smoke and summer incense. There is an electricity in the air, maybe just static from all of the violent storms. But the summer night is warm and presses against Azula's skin and makes her want to cave into all of the complicated desires that the girl next to her gives Azula.

A full moon, a sky of stars and a relationship of hastily concealed scars.

Summertime reigns again.

"You know, late is better than never," Ty Lee murmurs as Azula orders them drinks. It takes more guts than she has to say it, but sometimes she managed.

"You're going to have to explain that kernel of wisdom to me," Azula replies coldly, glad her voice does not display the emotion that Ty Lee's does.

"That maybe we're realizing things too late." Silence. Azula can only hear the music and the laughter, the happy people around the couple that only causes each other pain. It is a carefree night in the long Fire Nation summer, and that longing is on the wind.

"I don't want to think about this," Azula says too quickly. She gives her feelings away and mentally chastises herself for it.

The way they are knit together is nearly agonistic. And Azula is going to do everything in her power to keep she and Ty Lee from falling for each other again. There has to be a way, some way out there. But it feels inevitable, like falling out of a tree. But Azula falls and expects to fly.

There is no flying with relationships like these.

Only broken bones and snapped branches.

The night progresses without too much pain for either party. They drink, and talk, carefully skirting around topics that have any weight behind them. It feels easy for Azula, and they break apart for a moment as Azula slips outside for a moment, making up some lie about the heat.

It is just as hot out on the patio. Azula honestly needs to get a hold of herself. They almost kissed twice and Azula cannot bear for this to get any more serious. She looks at the grass that is yellowing despite the constant rain, the spring flowers that faded and were replaced with those of winter. It is beautiful out but she never pays attention.

She once left the palace and was shocked to see that the leaves had changed. For weeks, she had been in her room, the curtains drawn and not even leaving her bed. There felt like no point then, no reason and she was perfectly fine with that life.

If she can come as far as she did on her own, she can deny a relationship from budding.

Azula is in control. She is in control and she has to remember that.

She leaves the gentle heat for the harsh heat and sees Ty Lee being handed a drink by a guy even Azula would consider handsome. She bites her lip and figures this is for the best, and maybe she can just sneak out and Ty Lee will go home with him and Azula will not have to confront the possibility of a dead fire rekindling.

But before she can shove her way through the crowded bar to the door, she finds herself standing between Ty Lee and mystery hunk.

And she has just broken his arm.

Well, fuck.

* * *

><p>They stumble home with Ty Lee on a high she has not experienced since she was last dating Azula. Their lips keep hitting and missing and if anyone saw them they would probably sigh in frustration. Well, if Mai saw them that would happen.<p>

Azula reaches Ty Lee's room and they still have not been seen. That is a plus.

"You completely broke someone's arm for me," Ty Lee gasps and Azula simply shrugs. She does not have a witty or seductive response to that. Save for perhaps, _you're crazy. _"I love you so much!" and to that, Azula would reply, _you're drunk_.

Ty Lee falls onto her bed and Azula is on her knees beside her. Azula slowly slips her hand inside the pretty pink dress and touches what she has lost. What she found again and needs to return to the proper owner. Ty Lee moans messily, her stomach contracting under her touch. Azula feels as if she has the power, then realizes she should not be sleeping with her drunk ex-girlfriend, but Ty Lee seizes her neck and pulls her into a kiss, nearly snapping Azula in half with the force.

Azula kisses her neck, kisses her shoulders and raises her dress all the way up. Ty Lee tears it off of herself, frustrated with Azula's hesitance and slow rolling of the fabric. Ty Lee undoes Azula's hair with a painful fervor, and knits her hair in some of it as the rest falls into Azula's shirt in a way that Ty Lee cannot help but look at.

When her hand cups Ty Lee's breast, it is not going to stop. It is too late to jump away and curse and lock herself in her room for the rest of the Scorched Summer. Too late to join the New Ozai Society and never have to see a Kyoshi Warrior ever again.

Ty Lee moans.

The rest is history.

* * *

><p>"I have my report... sort of," Ty Lee says, feeling eleven and in school again. She looks at the crumpled papers she halfheartedly gave intentionally vague answers on in hopes of hitting a few marks correctly.<p>

Suki does not look at her as her teachers used to. Which gives Ty Lee a twist of guilt in her stomach. Lying to people who trust you is harder than lying to people who don't trust you. If it weren't for Azula... well, it's as much Ty Lee's fault as hers.

"It's... nice?" Suki raises an eyebrow and gives an uncomfortable smile.

"I didn't do it," Ty Lee sighs, exhaling in frustration. "I've been distracted."

Suki nods. "I've noticed."

"I'm not good at this job. I should probably find something else to do with my life," Ty Lee whines and Suki's neck bones tense as she grimaces. "I mean, a good warrior doesn't get distracted by, ugh, _her_. I'm just going to avoid her at all costs absolutely."

"That may be difficult given what I was just about to assign you." Suki's cheeks are slightly pink now. "I can give it to Meiyo, though, if you want."

"What's the assignment?" Ty Lee murmurs, although she is certain it has to do with Azula.

"I was going to ask you to watch the princess. Seeing as she trusts you and... you don't have to. Really," Suki says, feeling as if she has just stepped into a jackalope trap. "I'm wary of her right now, as well as a couple of people I've interviewed that Zuko suggested. But she isn't a definite suspect of anything... just a person of interest."

"I'll do it," Ty Lee sighs. "I might as well."

Suki frowns for a moment and decides not to interfere. She is having her own romantic issues right now, and she honestly does not want to walk into the tangled web that is Azula and Ty Lee.

Their relationship intimidates and confuses Suki.

She finds it best just to stay away.

* * *

><p>Suki swallows and studies Zuko closely.<p>

"I've been working on tracking down the leaders of this rebellion. If we cut off the head of the ming snake, you know?" she says, trying to keep her thoughts on business and business alone. Zuko swallows and briefly nods.

He rubs his nose for a moment and looks at the papers that Suki has drafted. She is incredibly thorough and dedicated. Fire Lord Zuko is fortunate to have the competent warriors and Suki on his side during the Scorched Summer, which has drained the life out of him. She brightens him slightly, and while that is somewhat terrifying, he wants to like it.

This is a little bit unreal. Like some kind of distant dream. Zuko wanted to see her again, but he feels so conflicted. So painfully conflicted.

"So, what do you have?" He does not know if he should sit still or stay standing or what he is supposed to do. Every relationship slips through the cracks for Zuko, and he imagines this one will do the same.

Don't feel a thing. Don't feel a thing. _Oh, he wishes_.

"Well, I have lot on some people I interviewed who sound pretty sketchy. I'm assuming your real problems are coming from the inside not the outside. I'm going to aim for prevention instead of cleaning up after the messes." Suki pauses and studies Zuko's face for a moment. She sees herself tracing the outline of his scar with her fingers, before pressing her lips against his. And they were the best lips she had ever tasted.

"So, prevention?" Zuko notices her looking at him and fears it escalating any further.

"Well, yes. We need to get to the heart of things. If you cut off the head of the spider-snake, you know, the body follows," Suki says, nodding a little too sharply. The sexual tension in the room is strong and thick. Enough that Suki can almost feel it pressing against her and restricting her breathing.

"Of course," Zuko adds, nodding sharply as well. They both desperately want to kiss each other but it would be entirely absurd. They _can't _and they know they can't.

Suki regrets to admit to herself that she is doing even more poorly than Ty Lee.

"I'll get back to you once I have more information." Suki bolts from the room before anything can escalate.

She could feel the heat starting in her toes, and she did not need it to consume the rest of her.

Zuko stares after her, wondering how many times he will get things wrong before he gets them right.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Five Years Post Comet<strong>_

_"I know it's fall, but it's basically winter on Kyoshi Island. Compared to that, it's like spring and summer every day here," Ty Lee says, slowly taking Azula's hand to remove her from the palace. The princess is reluctant, and Ty Lee finds herself using the same tactics she uses on animals to get them to leave their cages._

_ "The leaves changed," Azula says once her eyes adjust to the light. "When did the leaves change?"_

_ Ty Lee picks at her lips and glances at the trees. Hmph. She noticed, but she noticed days ago. It then starts worrying her that Azula has even stopped going outside to train, because the courtyard where she tends to practice has golden, yellow and vermillion leaves on all of the trees now._

_ Azula's feet crunch leaves under her and she can only remember it being summer, the ground hot beneath her bare feet and not littered with leaves. She chews on her nail and feels livid at herself for locking her door and not bothering to come out._

_ "When did you last go outside?" Ty Lee asks hesitantly, making a face Azula loathes._

_ "I don't actually remember. Most days I just sleep," Azula replies, shrugging. _

_ Not that she particularly enjoy sleeping. As a teenager she would have loved the ability to sleep all day, given her father's ridiculous regime for her and days planned until the point that she had four hours of sleep per night. But with the vivid, incessant nightmares every time she closes her eyes, sleeping is a curse._

_ "Let's go somewhere," Ty Lee says, seizing Azula's hand again because she looks like she is about to walk back inside. And Azula _wants _to go back inside and stay there. _

_ "People are going to stare," is all Azula replies with. It is not the real reason she wants to hide, but it is plausible enough that even Mai seems to believe it._

_ "You come with me. We'll just go to my parent's house or something. You are leaving this palace if it is the last thing I do," Ty Lee snaps, her gentle, coaxing tone entirely gone. Azula grits her teeth; she does not approve of being spoken to that way._

_ Azula debates her options, regally sighs and says, "Alright. Fine. I'll leave the palace."_

_ She gazes longingly at the large gilded gates as Ty Lee drags her away._

_ The things she does for love._

* * *

><p>Ty Lee turned her world. The romance started slowly, very slowly. It built through their teenage years, hitting an apex in Ba Sing Se, and then crashing and burning before the comet. Azula easily blames her failure against Zuko and the water peasant on Ty Lee. She would have been fine. She <em>would have been<em>.

Given, Azula was bound to snap under the pressure. She was cracking, slowly, under her father's command. But Ty Lee was the one who bent her too far. And Azula has _never _forgiven her.

The romance was sparked again after Azula met Ty Lee in a hotel in Republic City. It took off, spiraling, wild and thrilling. Azula was a fugitive and their illicit affair excited them both. Adrenaline passed for love, Azula has decided.

And then Ty Lee managed to get Azula to return home. She even vouched for her and promised to oversee Azula personally. Zuko trusted her, for some absurd reason. And then it grew outside of the shadows for the first time in a long time. Azula is a flower that blossoms only in the dark, and it only makes sense that her first love would grow best in the shade.

But, regardless of Azula's feelings now, Ty Lee once turned her world. And she could do it again, which frightens Azula, which makes Azula violent and desperate for _control_. More control, more, she needs it and has to have it even if it hurts her and even if it hurts Ty Lee.

"You look distracted. You haven't even made a snarky comment all day," Zuko says, squinting at his sister. Her eyes flicker up and down his body and she purses her lips with a small pout. "It's Ty Lee. Azula, don't get involved with her again."

"You are _not _my father. Stop acting like it," Azula snarls with a regal command in her tone and Ozai's glare on her face. It makes Zuko swallow and recoil, but he tries not to show weakness. "If it does concern you so much, brother, I have no plans for ever dating her again."

Zuko scratches his shoulder. He wonders if Azula genuinely believes that or if she is just lying to stop him from prying into her life. But when he pries, it is because he wants to help her. It is because when he lost her he blamed himself, and when he looked at the paperwork from the asylum, he saw things he never could understand. And while for years she and Ty Lee were happy together, they were never healthy for each other.

Azula has come so far from her descent. And Zuko has the perpetual fear that something will happen and it will all unravel.

"I know I'm not your father. And I know I shouldn't interfere with your love life. Have you slept with her?"

"Why do people assume that?" Azula's fingers twitch and Zuko braces himself for an attack. "I'm not... have you slept with Suki? Your best friend's only love."

"He's not my best friend anymore," Zuko says calmly.

"Hmph. That tends to happen when you fuck someone's girlfriend," Azula purrs, a look of superiority on her previously flustered face. "You are in no position to judge me. We did what we thought we were supposed to do, but I don't _always _make the right decision, particularly in things so impossible to quantify and dissect as romance."

"So you've figured out that not all things can be exploited and picked apart?" Zuko looks amused and Azula wants to burn the smirk off of his face. But she takes a deep breath and practices restraint.

"Some things are raw and human. Some things a person who sees the world in strategy, logic and a cold, successful detachment simply can't understand, and I can admit my faults," Azula says smoothly and Zuko thinks it is a lie again. "But I'd rather think tactically than analyze my feelings for her. They aren't worth my time."

The worst lies are the lies we tell ourselves.

Zuko is surprised that Azula gave so much information about her status with Ty Lee. Usually getting any answers out of her is like pulling teeth. But clearly she is already disheveled from the Kyoshi Warrior presence, and the New Ozai Society and multiple hurricanes are not helping. This will be an unforgettable summer for all of the wrong reasons.

"You'll figure it out," Zuko says and Azula rolls her eyes. Of course, no progress is made with his sister.

She slinks away and tries not to think about Zuko's words.

She may be his ward, but he cannot control her. And if she _wants _to be with Ty Lee, she absolutely can. But, then again, Azula does not want to be with Ty Lee.

Or does she? Does she?

_She thinks she does._

* * *

><p>Ty Lee wants to feel her beating heart. And tear it out of her chest.<p>

The rain pours onto the palace, dripping from slanted ruby roofs. The winds are picking up and Ty Lee stares at a bending tree and the branches torn from it like limbs ripped from a spider-fly. Water runs like a river across the pathways in the courtyard and the fountains overflow.

Another monsoon. They feel like bad omens, and Ty Lee believes in omens.

She is painting her nails with a deep red lacquer she found shoved in the back of a drawer. The palace can house every girl in her own room, and Ty Lee is fairly certain she got the nicest. She suspects Suki is staying with Zuko, however. That at first makes her ill, and then she realizes that she is gradually getting absorbed into Azula again and she is just as guilty.

Why do people love what is so unhealthy for them? What is it about chasing tempests that feels so good? Lightning crash and Ty Lee jumps, spilling some of the red polish on her finger. It looks as if she is bleeding and she wishes she had brought a little pink. It would look less depressing.

She hears how the palace has gone silent. It is not quite as quiet as it used to be after Zuko and Ursa left. Ty Lee was the loudest thing the palace encountered, which brings a small twitch of a smile to her lips. But then she realizes she is thinking about Azula again, and she silences her thoughts.

Azula is dangerous. Azula is not good. Azula is a dragon that will chew you up and spit you out for fun. Azula is dangerous. Azula is not good.

And now Ty Lee is thinking about her for longer. She is thinking about the bar fight but the hurricane screams with the agonized cries of Azula as she would wake from nightmares she inhabited. The snapping of branches is the way Azula snapped the man's bones. The pounding of the rain is the rapid beat of her heart as they would sleep together.

Or the rapid beat of her heart when she would wake Azula from sleepwalking and pull her into her arms, and then wonder what she would do if she lost her.

Ty Lee gets up, her chest tight and her brain admonishing her, and pushes open the door. She left the nail polish wide open and her nails are sticky and damp. But she walks down the hall and towards Azula's room. She pushes open the door without knocking and Azula jumps.

"You can't just _do _that. You're going to give me a heart attack or get hit by lightning." Punctuating her insult, the sky bursts with white light and the crash of thunder.

It sounded very close.

"I don't know what to do," Ty Lee blurts out, wishing her mouth had a filter. "I've been thinking about you all night."

"Well, I'm flattered, but I think you need to leave," Azula says but her eyes disagree with her words.

"Even you're not that good of a liar," Ty Lee replies sharply and Azula narrows her eyes. "I..."

"You...?" Azula cocks an eyebrow.

Before Ty Lee has time to think about the implications of her actions, she is beside Azula, her arms around her without hesitation, kissing her, her lips beating a tattoo down her neck, hips pressed together. It is like punching herself in the face again and again, but the sensation of her body is this painful type of irresistible.

Azula does not react for a breathless moment, as if she is giving it more thought than Ty Lee. She probably is. Azula pushes her towards the bed draped in ruby silk and pushes herself up with one hand like a wildcat. And her fangs sink into Ty Lee's lips, biting down, to the response of a moan. Azula slides off the same pajamas she tore away the first night and wonders if this will turn into some kind of pattern. Ty Lee feels a slight chill from being stripped bare that is answered by Azula's radiating warmth. She is the sun and Ty Lee is a reptile that needs it to live, or it will freeze to death.

The princess runs her fingers along the red lace bra, slipping to the same Fire Nation panties, and sliding them over her hips and down to the floor. This seems easy to her and Ty Lee just surrenders herself to it.

"How long have we wanted this?" Azula asks as she is trying to get off her own nightdress. She fumbles for the first time in the night.

"Forever, probably," Ty Lee murmurs and Azula laughs hollowly. "You were definitely my first sexual fantasy. Well... probably."

Azula scoffs as she finally frees herself from her clothes. "What do you mean _probably_? I am _everyone's _first sexual fantasy. Or at least the first good one."

"Alright, you were my first good one," Ty Lee says and Azula slowly shakes her head before offering another kiss.

Ty Lee wraps Azula around her like something that might slip away. She touches her slowly, painfully slowly, kisses her cheekbone, her clavicle, the point of her ribs with feverish kisses. Azula aches in a way she has not in a long time, making her press hard against the touches and open her legs, in a manner she offers very few.

And by the time she slides her fingers between her legs, it is the only relief.

Then comes the regret.

It always manages to show up after such moments and bursts of bliss.

"I'm trying not to hold onto things that are gone," Ty Lee murmurs, on her side examining Azula who is in a staring contest with the chandelier above her bed. "So... I..."

"You were clinging to me pretty tightly," Azula purrs and Ty Lee swallows.

"I know."

She knows. She knows. She knows.

And she has made shackles by trying to break free. It only hurts when she laughs.

Ty Lee closes her eyes and pretends she is elsewhere. But she does not want to be elsewhere, she wants to be beside the sole most destructive item in the entire Universe: Princess Azula.

Maybe she wants to be destroyed.

She feels Azula's beating heart next to hers and falls asleep to thoughts of ripping it out.

_Thu-thump, thu-thump, thu-thump._


	3. Her Hips Invite You

Part Three: Her Hips Invite You

* * *

><p>Mai glances between her friends.<p>

Oh, the things they are not telling her but she can read on their faces. They clearly did not listen to her, and the sexual tension is again able to be cut with a knife. Mai remembers how incredibly awkward sharing a tent with them was, and how Azula would wrap herself around Mai as if she did not trust herself that close to Ty Lee.

"Thank you for inviting me on this super awkward outing," Mai remarks and Azula grits her teeth. "I am not paying for anything you two destroy. Or bail."

"I can break whatever I want. And no one is going to put me in _prison_," Azula says sharply and Mai shrugs.

"It could happen," Mai says as Ty Lee walks uncomfortably to the side.

She sees how close they have gotten in her absence and it perturbs her. Ty Lee always did hate how Azula behaved with Mai; Mai could get away with saying anything to the princess, and insults just made her roll her eyes and say something snarky back. Ty Lee had sealed lips, followed the rules of dealing with Azula and analyzed her every word.

And now she thinks that may be why Azula fell for her. Because she was _movable_. Well, she is not anymore. She is an immovable object in her adulthood.

... but Azula is an unstoppable force.

They wind up at their favorite restaurant, an old haunt from their youth. It looks completely different now, but they go there anyway. Their friendship began again when Ty Lee decided to give up her life for Azula and Mai decided she was never going to make any better friends. And things have gone fairly smoothly; no one has thrown anyone in prison, at least.

The trio are seated at the expense of everyone waiting in front of them. Azula sits, eerily quiet in Mai's opinion. Ty Lee is humming, looking uncomfortable as she fidgets with the menu. Mai squints at them both, contemplating the right words.

"I have to use the bathroom," Ty Lee declares before leaping from the table and disappearing down the hall.

"She looks scared," Mai comments dryly as they are served tea.

"I have no idea why," Azula says softly. There is a brief silence as Azula watches her tea be poured and purses her lips. Then she turns back to Mai and with no discretion or softening of her tone, remarks, "That waitress is so ugly. Why is she allowed to work here?"

Mai blinks as she realizes the waitress definitely heard Azula, and is now slinking away as quickly as possible. "You know why you're in this predicament with Ty Lee?"

"Why?" Azula asks, stirring her tea although she forgot to put anything in it.

"Because you don't restrain yourself from anything," Mai says and Azula looks genuinely confused. It would be cute if she weren't well over twenty. "We can start small. Do you think about what you say before you say it?" Mai suggests, glancing over her shoulder and grateful that Ty Lee is still in the bathroom.

"Yes. I do. I think, _yes, Azula, you should definitely say that it is so charming and witty_," Azula says honestly, and even _Mai _is impressed by her deadpan while making that statement.

"You are so lucky she loves you," Mai sighs. Silence. "Marry her, Azula."

"Wait, five minutes ago you were saying we should stop seeing each other because we're so destructive. As everyone has been saying since the Kyoshi Warriors were stationed here." Azula cocks an eyebrow. There _is _a reason she planned on appointing Mai as her advisor once she was Fire Lord, but these days, Mai's advice is about as helpful as Uncle's.

"She's shallow, selfish, flighty, histrionic and allergic to commitment. You're... Princess Azula of the Fire Nation. No one else is ever going to love you. Marry her, Azula." Mai shrugs and pours the sugar into Azula's tea, as she is still stirring for no reason.

"You said no to Zuko. And who is ever going to love you or Zuko?" Azula snaps, and Mai should have known she would get defensive.

"Zuko is Fire Lord. I've been on more dates in the past two weeks than you have in your life. We'll manage." Mai leans back in her chair and gives Azula an admonishing expression. Azula visualizes herself burning it off of her face, sighs gently and sips from her tea.

"Why _did _you say no to Zuko anyway?" Azula inquires, having never asked it before.

"Because he was trying to trap me. We had been broken up, and we had like two weeks of dating before he realized I would break up with him again, so he proposed to me as some form of entrapment. And I was having _none _of that." Mai still sounds aggressive two years later. And Zuko lectures Azula about being so _romantically destructive_. His trail of carnage stretches across all Four Nations.

"Hmm."

"That's a bad sound coming from you." But before Mai can interrogate Azula, Ty Lee comes back from the bathroom and pours herself a cup of tea.

"Ty Lee," Azula says, turning to her and setting one hand on her knee. Ty Lee shivers faintly from the contact. "Will you marry me?"

Her lips open and close. Mai slams her face onto the table. _Not what she meant_.

"Maybe?" Ty Lee squeaks.

"What do you mean _maybe_? I am a _princess_ and lots of other amazing things!" Azula's eyes flash and Ty Lee makes herself look very small. Or perhaps she should play dead.

"It's a maybe leaning towards yes," Ty Lee offers feebly, her heart still fluttering. She flashes a shaky grin that does nothing to abet Azula.

"_Leaning towards yes_." Azula scoffs and stands up. Mai contemplates hiding under the table but her idea disappears the moment Azula throws the table at the wall, Mai narrowly dodging it with a battle roll that makes all of her bones pop.

"Azula, wait!" Ty Lee shrieks as everyone in the restaurant turns to stare. But Azula walks out, slamming the door four times behind her, the last time breaking it off of the hinges, and disappearing down the street.

"Should we notify the police?" Mai murmurs, trying to wipe tea off of her skirt.

"What even was that?" Ty Lee snaps. "Why was that so sexy? Are you okay?"

"Glad to know my safety is third on your list of concerns. She actually took that worse than Zuko..."

* * *

><p>"Azula, I want to talk to you," Zuko says, sitting down in front of her. Her eyes flicker up and down him before she nods, as if she was analyzing him to guess what he would do next.<p>

She always does say he shows his moves before he makes them.

"About Ty Lee, I'm sure," Azula purrs and Zuko swallows.

Perhaps he does always show his moves before he makes them.

"Yes. I just, want to... she brings out this self destructive side of you that I thought was gone," Zuko says, looking at her with such sadness in his eyes that Azula wants to slap him. "What you have with her is bad for both of you."

Azula pauses. "I'm well aware."

"Then why do you do it?" Zuko asks, his eyebrows shooting up for a moment. Azula rubs her lips together, contemplating her answer.

"Because I like to. I have spent my entire life calculating every move, always having a plan... always ready. But look where that got me. Maybe now I don't want to miscalculate. Maybe I just want to fuck up and like it," Azula says with a chill in her tone that makes Zuko shiver slightly involuntarily. "I like her, Zuko. She makes me happy, even if she makes me so... self destructive as you put it."

"That's not happiness. That's _lust_."

"And you're such a good example. You think your relationship with Suki is so healthy? It lost you your best friend. Or, hm, perhaps your relationship with Mai? That was fucked from the start; I'm startled she hung on as long as she did. The string of girlfriends with relationships you gradually sabotaged..." Azula lists, smirking faintly at her brother's flushed cheeks. "At least I managed to maintain a relationship for four years, even if it did explode in the end. You couldn't do that if you tried."

"I heard you asked her to marry you," Zuko says, biting back the weak defenses he has against her vicious tirade.

"I did. And she said... she needed to think about it," Azula sighs, her lip twisted slightly in an expression Zuko does not understand.

"That's not good," Zuko says and Azula just shrugs.

"I have nothing to lose. No throne, no suitors lined up... nothing, really. I don't even have a plant to care for or a pair of shoes I actually own. Might as well." Azula leans back in her chair and clasps her hands. Zuko tries to ignore the textbook power positions and dissect this madness before Azula and Ty Lee sell their souls to each other, only to inevitably crash and burn.

"I want you to think this through." And the civil Azula disappears.

"You're not my father and I'm getting a little tired of you acting like it," she growls and Zuko inhales slowly. "I can do what I want, even if it's a bad decision. I'm tired of... chasing things. Chasing things like a dumb little kitten chases flutter bats but has no idea what it would do if it were somehow able to catch one. I just want to take what is mine and be done with it."

"Azula..." Zuko has had this argument with her too many times.

"You won, Zuko," Azula says, her eyes boring into him, molten gold. "And I'm not that fucked up little girl who just needed somebody to... _believe _in her or whatever you did. I'm glad you helped me, but it's time for you to stop. You know what the worst thing about our father was?"

"What?" Zuko breathes, knowing he won't like the answer.

"He denied us our humanity. He denied us _personhood_. It's one thing for you to be grotesquely paternal. It's another for you to strip that away from me," Azula says with a darkness in her words that makes Zuko break out in goosebumps.

"I don't want to... deny your humanity. Azula, I've been on your side for a _long _time. When nobody else would be."

"I'm not arguing with that. But I want to make my own choices. I don't like to be protected, brother. I never have." She stands up before Zuko can further his point, and she is gone.

He thinks he lost.

He only hopes she isn't lost.

Because it sure seems like it sometimes.

* * *

><p>Ty Lee seeks out Azula as soon as she is back in the palace. Lunch did not go well at all, but she wants to be clear that her feelings still exist. And hope that Azula does not electrocute her to death.<p>

And she finds herself in Azula's bedroom, the princess pacing back and forth with her lips pursed like Ty Lee's mother used to do when Ty Lee was in trouble.

"We can't do this," Azula says, punching the wall. Ty Lee cringes at the collision and then chews on her lower lip uncomfortably. "It's been two years. _Two years_. We were clearly happier without each other."

"I've been having conflicted feelings too," Ty Lee whispers, kneading the mattress with her hands. It does not satisfy her frustration. "But you're the one who _popped the question_. Are you having second thoughts?"

Azula crosses her arm and exhales smoke. Ty Lee closes her eyes and remembers exactly why she and Azula crumbled. And she was planning on saying _yes_.

"Look, I just..." Azula moves to punch the wall but stops her knuckles just before they collide. "I want to be with you so much, but the strategic, sane part of me knows it's a terrible idea."

"Marriage is only forever," Ty Lee says and Azula does not know what to make of it. "That's not _that _long, if you really think about it."

Azula tries to laugh but cannot. This should be easier. Everything has been easy for her except for this relationship, this acrobat who torments her in her every waking moment, and in her nightmares... hallucinations, daydreams... just _always_.

"I asked you to marry me because I didn't want you to leave," Azula says, sitting down on the bed and rubbing her temples. "It was pretty childish and reckless. I shouldn't have. I wouldn't blame you for leaving as soon as this assignment is over."

Ty Lee stares at her feet. "I should leave. But I don't want to."

A crash of thunder and the snapping of branches interrupts their conversation. Rain pounds on the roof more ferociously than it did earlier. Another monsoon. But it cannot rival the tempest in this bedroom that is gradually stirring, waiting to be awakened.

"If you want to leave, you should," Azula says softly. "Just leave before your assignment is done. It's not as if you've been doing it anyway."

"I've really never felt this way about somebody before," Ty Lee breathes, clenching and unclenching her fists. She looks genuinely frustrated and confused. "We're going to hurt each other."

"Everybody hurts each other eventually," Azula remarks and Ty Lee hates to admit that she is right. "We've weathered more than most relationships have. But, evidently it's never going to be like when we were teenagers. Because teenagers are stupid and think that the fluttering of hormones is true love. I look in absolute disgust at teenage romances as I get older."

"We're like junkies looking for that first high."

"With double the addiction," Azula adds.

They stare at each other for a moment. Ty Lee can almost read as Azula as well as Azula reads her.

"I want to stay in with you tonight," Ty Lee says and Azula nods.

And so after she gathered necessary belongings from her bedroom, Ty Lee lies in Azula's bed, waiting for Azula. And then when Azula lies down beside her, she cannot help but think about the fact that the girl she is still riddled with lust for is lying there, breathing, chest heaving, not wearing a bra beneath a crimson negligee.

She moves closer to Azula, pushing the limit. Ty Lee touches her waist slowly and hesitantly. She touches her lips to Azula's shoulder blade and the princess slowly turns around, their lips colliding. It is all messy, incredibly messy.

Ty Lee slides down her sleeves, the dress moving down beneath silk blankets. Her hands stray to the princess's small, flawless round breasts. Azula allows it with a blissful and smug expression. It pleases her that she is so irresistible. Ty Lee runs her tongue along Azula's clavicle to the response of melodic moans. Azula touches Ty Lee's neck with hesitant fingers before forcibly drawing her into a kiss.

Ty Lee slips on top of Azula as the kiss breaks. She straddles her and the touch of their bare hips and thighs is too arousing to be healthy. They know just how wrong it is as Ty Lee caresses her body and wants to dig in her nails and never let go.

Her hips grind against Azula's in the rhythm of an ecstasy long forgotten. It makes so little sense as she finds herself wet and throbbing and sliding down. Azula look vaguely detached as the motion of her hips slows and Ty Lee swirls her tongue around Azula's hard nipple. Azula moans and Ty Lee considers it a success.

She dips lower, kissing Azula's navel before slipping down further.

And Azula thinks that this must be what falling in love is, as twisted as it sounds. Her toes curl and she would bend the flames of the sun itself to prolong tonight. She slips away from straddling Ty Lee's soft shoulders with the chill and shudder and craving despite satisfaction beyond satisfaction.

She kisses Ty Lee's neck and refuses to let it end. But, to be honest, the Kyoshi Warrior has no desire for an ending either.

Just more moans and more of Azula's body.

"Azula," Ty Lee whispers, drenched in sweat and the scent of Azula's pricey perfume, "I lied earlier. I think about you all the time. I just relive every scene over and over again, trying to pinpoint what went wrong."

Azula swallows. She has no idea of the right thing to say except, "I see you when I fall asleep."

"What if they're right?" Ty Lee breathes, trying to resist the gravity of Azula's piercing golden eyes. "We're outrageously bad for each other."

"To be honest... I have nothing left to lose." And she presses her lips against Ty Lee's and slides her tongue into her mouth before she can protest.

Ty Lee welcomes it, digging her nails into Azula's back and pressing their bodies together. She burns in the night like a supernova and Ty Lee wants to burn to ashes with her. It is so wrong, so sick. But she cannot help herself as she wraps a leg around Azula's waist.

Azula's lips touch her neck. Ty Lee bites Azula's lip and they fall further into each other. They do not stop, even though they know they should. Just pleasure, that is all that matters as Ty Lee realizes they do have nothing left to lose.

In a world with no more meaning, no more purpose, a world they were not bred for, all they have is this desperate longing for each other.

But Ty Lee still does not know her answer to Azula's question.

* * *

><p>"So, Azula asked Ty Lee to marry her?" Suki asks with a small laugh.<p>

She sits with Zuko on a little used patio, pouring tea into an ornate little cup through a plain metal spigot. She may be glad to be alone with him, but she also feels a slight hesitation. Zuko destroyed her inhibition those years ago, and it cost her a lot.

And here they are commenting on how crazy Azula and Ty Lee are. They are just as insane.

"I don't think Ty Lee will say yes," Zuko says with a sigh.

"Like Mai didn't?" Suki instantly regrets her words. "You know, I'm sorry. That was bad. I..."

"No, it's okay. See, I came from the same position of Azula, though. I didn't ask her to marry me because I was ready for the next phase in my life or relationship. There wasn't any logic or a _ring_. I just thought it would keep her from leaving me again," Zuko says and Suki suddenly understands why Azula's proposal to Ty Lee matters so much to him.

He has always taken more responsibility for Azula than he needed to. Suki never understood their relationship because it was far too complicated and too layered with old grudges and archaic happy memories. She never really had a family, save for the other warriors, so she never tries like others do.

When she turned herself in, he was the first to stand up for her. Out of everyone, Suki certainly did not expect Zuko to say he would take responsibility for her. She has seen the scar on his chest and ran her fingers along it and... Yet, he was the only reason Azula _did _recover.

That kind of love is strange. Like the kind of love she has for Zuko.

"I think Ty Lee will say yes," Suki protests and Zuko stares at her for a moment. "She loves Azula still. And I think it'll be bad for her, but I'm not going to stop it. Ty Lee is an adult and she can make her own consistently poor choices."

"But you _are _kind of that friend who holds her hair when she vomits and then reschedules her appointments when she's hung over," Zuko says with a laugh and Suki sighs. It is true.

"Well, maybe we should just simultaneously push them out of the nest and hope that with their combined wings they can fly." Pause. "Or at least slow their fall enough not to splatter."

Zuko laughs at that, rubbing his neck. "Alright, let's do it."

"Do what? I think I've seen Azula fly before," Suki says and Zuko shakes his head.

"Let's just wash our hands of them. They _are _adults. I mean, how much pain has their relationship caused _us_, right?" Zuko says and Suki cannot help but smile. They both share that.

They both feel so much responsibility. They both grew up way too fast. And now they both have coddled the destructive force of Azula and Ty Lee.

"I'm with you on that. We should start drafting our speeches for their wedding," Suki says, laughing at the absolute absurdity. "It's starting to rain again."

"Ugh," Zuko sighs. "I have no idea what I did to piss off the hurricane spirit."

"I don't think there is a hurricane spirit," Suki murmurs, grabbing Zuko's arm as they walk inside.

"Shh, it'll hear you," Zuko whispers mockingly and she blushes beneath her make-up.

They slip to Zuko's bedroom and Suki realizes how terrible she is doing at this assignment.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Four Years Ago<strong>_

_ "What does the weight of the world feel like, Zuko?" Suki asks, staring at the ceiling._

_ She is naked. And in her attempt at a new relationship after destroying her old one with this affair._

_ "Heavy," Zuko responds and she laughs. "We all kind of share it at this point."_

_ "Definitely," Suki says, picking at her lips. "You know what draws us together?"_

_ "What?" Zuko inquires, his golden eyes following her as she sits up._

_ "We both had to grow up really fast. And we both... well, we both feel like the responsibility for everything belongs to us. I went from an orphan to the leader of an esteemed sisterhood of warriors. And that just made the situation worse. You went from a banished prince who lost his childhood to just a teenager now completely responsible for erasing a hundred year war." Pause. "I think you got it a lot worse than me. But it screws people up, I think."_

_ "I think it makes them better. I think we're both better for it," Zuko says and Suki studies him for a moment. "I wouldn't trade the way I've grown for a childhood and fewer heart problems."_

_ "Yeah," Suki can only respond._

_ The more she learns about Zuko, the more she loves him, and the more terrified she gets of becoming too close to him._

_ Bad things happen when Suki gets too close to people. _

* * *

><p>"I feel as if taking you both into public again is unwise," Mai says as Azula and Ty Lee arrive at her apartment. She taps her long fingernails on the arch of the door and looks them up and down. "So, Azula has cooled down from your rejection of her?"<p>

Ty Lee swallows. Azula stares directly into Mai's eyes until she looks away.

Mai then sighs and says, "You slept together, didn't you? I don't know why I'm the only adult in this relationship. You know what, as long as I never wake up next to you two making out in a tent, I'm okay with whatever your blackened hearts tell you to do."

"We want to go to the park, Mai," Ty Lee says, grinning and bouncing from foot to foot, and Azula slowly nods.

"This sounds like a kidnapping." But Mai walks out of the door, shuts it with a click and follows them towards the street. "Actually, I'm legally declaring this a kidnapping so I don't have to bribe a restaurant owner again."

Hours later, they sit at a pavilion, in the shade, trying not to be seen. Mai has tried to keep the conversation going, and as far away from her friends' relationship as possible. She has long ago realized that she has to be the bridge between them when they are incapable of fucking each other to avoid expressing their feelings. She honestly does not mind; they _are _much more interesting than the other friends she has made.

"So, how's your Kyoshi Warrior stationing going?" Mai asks politely and Ty Lee makes a pained expression. _Wonderful_.

"I've been slacking off incredibly. I'm supposed to be investigating Azula for involvement in the New Ozai Society. But so far all I've done is have sex with her," Ty Lee says and Azula's lips part in surprise.

Mai realizes she has to do something and quickly and so she says, "I've decided on the title for the book I'm writing about Zuko now that you can say whatever you want about the Fire Lord without disappearing."

"You've been what?" Azula demands, leaning close to Ty Lee. She nearly falls off of the platform that holds the gilded statue of her grandfather. "You've been investigating me?"

Mai interrupts, "It's called Astraphobia: Or Why Fire Lord Zuko is Afraid of Lightning and Crushed Tomatoes."

"I've not been doing a very good job! With you doing sexual things to me!" Ty Lee screams and a couple across the park starts staring.

Always with the stares. And whispers. Mai does not know how Azula ignores it. Maybe she does not notice.

"It's funny because it's─"

"Shut up, Mai!" Azula shrieks before turning to Ty Lee. Mai backs away very slowly, out of the range of fists and flames. "You could've told me that I was a _suspect _in all of this!"

"We haven't done much talking except for you demanding I marry you!" Ty Lee stands up and Azula stands on the platform of the statue, making herself much taller. But Ty Lee is nowhere near intimidated.

"You think I'm responsible for revolutionaries who consistently try to kill me?"

"_I _don't think it! Suki does! And everybody else!"

"What would I possibly gain from allying myself with rebels?"

"I don't know, maybe the throne of the Fire Nation?"

"Yeah, for five minutes before the Avatar shows up and takes my bending. I rescind my marriage proposal!"

"Well, my answer was _no _anyway!"

Mai moves to interject, but then a familiar sight of the Scorched Summer blinds her. Another bloody revolt in a public place; the fire, masks and screams are always abrupt and calculated, coming in a flash. They can destroy a street without noticing, and the grass Mai is sitting on is suddenly smoking.

Azula leaps from the statue and runs directly at the rebels, and Mai chases her, drawing knives. Of course, of course the princess dashes directly into harm's way. They lose track of Ty Lee instantly, despite how helpful she could be right now, and start fighting.

"I would suggest running, Azula!" Mai shouts as she dodges a fist and is then yanked out of the way by a soldier suppressing the rebels. "I think you're a little bit too valuable to be getting involved in this!"

"The Kyoshi Warriors think I'm ─ one moment ─" Azula hits two rebels with the same bolt of lightning. "Think I'm a suspect? Well, I'm going to prove them wrong by killing all of these rebels!"

"That's a little crazy, Azula!" Mai shouts in exasperation as she slits a throat.

But before Azula, the soldiers, three Kyoshi Warriors and Mai can stop the revolt, it fizzles and fades. A few fists still fly, a few soldiers are still locked in combat, but they disappear as if they were never here. _This _is why the Scorched Summer is more deadly than the usual protests and assassination attempts.

It's too organized. Eerily organized.

"Come on. Let's find Ty Lee." Mai grabs Azula's arm and walks to the Kyoshi Warriors cleaning up the mess.

But it is to no avail. She disappeared just like the insurgents.

"They have her," Azula hisses to Mai. Mai swallows.

"They don't have her. She probably ditched us for the palace. We'll go find her if it makes you feel so much better."

* * *

><p>"Zuko, they took her!" Azula screams, throwing his papers off of his desk. Suki, he and the chief of Caldera Police are going over the spotty reports from today's assault. "They took Ty Lee!"<p>

"I'm worried too," Suki says before recoiling at Azula's glare.

"The last thing I said was that I hated her," Azula says quietly before declaring, "I'm going to rescue her!"

"Good luck," Mai mutters, hoping to remove herself from this situation and Zuko's longing eyes.

Before Azula adds, "And Mai is helping me! You too, brother and Ty Lee's supposed best friend!"


	4. Her Heart Shatters Like Glass

Part Four: Her Heart Shatters Like Glass

* * *

><p>"You know why you lost her?" Mai says quietly as Azula is staring out of her bedroom window silently.<p>

"Mphm." Azula barely breathes and Mai knows she must do something about it. The Kyoshi Warriors and Zuko are doing some detective work, and Mai is supposed to be containing Azula from rampaging or simply burning down Caldera to find her ex-girlfriend.

"Because you never tell her how you feel. You just tease her a little and then shut her out," Mai says and Azula grits her teeth. "If you just tell her you care about her, she'll marry you."

"You don't care about anything. Don't lecture me about caring," Azula snaps and Mai sighs.

"I care about things," she admits begrudgingly. "I care about you wackjobs, and my brother and my knife collection. I like sleeping. And people leaving me alone. Everybody cares about things and, Azula, you care about her. When we find her, you better tell her you love her. She's not going to chase you for another two decades."

Azula is silent before slowly nodding. She does not want to admit Mai is right, but she knows deep down that it is true. And right now, right now, she thinks she has to be honest. "I should've told her a really long time ago."

"I know you should've," Mai replies, touching Azula's shoulder. They both contemplate hugging each other but decide against it.

Meanwhile, Suki thrusts papers into Zuko's hands. She has been bitterly silent for over an hour. Zuko has been giving directions to soldiers and trying to find Ty Lee. All the while, he has been trying to figure out what they could have gained by capturing her. Or if maybe she ran away. Whatever they are up to, Zuko does not want to face the reality of Ty Lee being taken.

The Scorched Summer has just raised the stakes.

"We found one possible option. One of the rebels we imprisoned two weeks ago may have information on where they could've taken her," Suki says with severity and poise. Zuko just feels flustered today. The Scorched Summer has been terrible, but at least no one he cares about had been kidnapped yet.

"Bring him here to be interrogated," Zuko says, glad his voice is calm when his gut is twisting and his heart is thumping. "We're going to find her before..." Pause. "Just before."

"Yeah," Suki says softly, not wanting to finish the sentence either.

* * *

><p>"Why did you let her in here?" Zuko demands of Police Chief Tao as his eyes fall on Azula. She has just walked into the interrogation room, an incredibly dark look in her gilded eyes.<p>

The terrified expression on the police chief's face answers Zuko's question for him, and he supposes he will have to tolerate Azula's presence and hope she does not ruin the interrogation with her strong emotions entangled in the kidnapping.

Suki is already sitting across from the prisoner, who looks up at Azula and instantly becomes nervous. Zuko can see the sweat glistening on the man's light skin as Azula walks to the table and stands beside him. He gulps visibly and Zuko wonders if this is a good thing and not a bad thing.

"We need to know where you take prisoners," Suki says calmly and Azula's fingers twitch. But she does not act on her desire to pummel the man.

"Did they take her?" he asks and Azula's eyes flash.

"Who?" Suki asks cautiously. She has done this before but this man seems to think he is in the position of power. Most crumble the moment they see a table and two chairs in a locked room.

"The girl. The Kyoshi Warrior," the man says, running his finger along cracks in the table. Azula watches the calm motion of his hand and smashes it down with two of her fingers, puncturing his skin with her nails.

"This was premeditated then?" Azula interrupts as he tries to rip his hand away from her grasp. Suki inhales sharply and gives Zuko a questioning look. He just shrugs.

"Of course it was. We've gotten pretty organized lately, if you haven't noticed," he says with a small laugh as Azula releases him. He holds his hand towards his chest like a wounded animal, but his pained expression remains smug. "It's good to see we made such an influence on you, princess."

"Why me?" Azula demands, launching herself onto the table and sitting in front of him. Suki flinches and the prisoner recoils. "What do I have to do with any of this?"

He laughs and Azula reaches out and grabs him by the neck. His eyes bulge and Suki sets her hand on the hilt of her sword to restrain Azula if she has to. But she also knows that the princess is making fast progress and she will not interrupt unless she absolutely must.

"Because you're of the most interest at the moment," he says, his eyes focused on her hand, the one with fingers pressing into his artery. She can feel his pulse raging against her, but he is not lying. Just avoiding saying the truth aloud.

"Tell me where she is. If you want to make such an influence on me, tell me where she is," Azula says and he laughs. She tightens her fingers for a second and then pulls them away. "Or will I see her soon?"

"Kasai Forest. There's a bunker there," he says casually and Azula stares at him for a moment longer.

"I'm not going to like what I find there, am I?" Azula whispers and he shakes his head slowly, his lips slightly parted in some bastardized version of a smile.

Suki stands up, walking to Zuko. Azula has not moved, despite having a place to look for Ty Lee. Azula steps off of the table and Zuko starts walking towards her the moment he realizes she is about to do something reckless and insane. But she lights her palm before he can speak and presses it against the prisoner's face.

He screams in chilling, absolute agony and Zuko grabs Azula by the waist and pulls her away.

* * *

><p>The sound of snowmelt always soothed Ty Lee. At least once she got used to it on Kyoshi Island. As she would fall asleep, she would listen to it and it comforted her. While she is passing through consciousness, she hears it again, not consciously registering that she is in the Fire Nation in late summer. The trickling of water dripping from trees and through metal.<p>

But when she opens her eyes to the dim light, she sees that it is not snowmelt, but water from the hurricanes dripping into the underground cell where she is being held. It drips between the twisted metal bars of a drain, and when Ty Lee peers through the bars, she can see trees above. A forest.

"I see you're awake," says a deep male voice. Ty Lee's eyelashes flutter as she feels incredibly dizzy. Finally, when her vision clears, she sees a familiar man in front of her. She thinks she saw him around the palace when she was a youth. Or maybe even _now_ under Zuko's regime.

"Where am I?" Ty Lee asks, narrowing her eyes at him. She remembers being grabbed after her fight with Azula, and before she could bite back, passing out.

"That isn't important. What is important is _why _you are here," the man says, studying Ty Lee closely.

He has lighter skin, ink black hair and a very sharp, pointed beard. Ty Lee still is squinting in the dim light as she tries to figure out anything about her surroundings. The man continues to examine her as if she will answer the question, but Ty Lee does not know. She has no idea what the New Ozai Society would want with her of all people.

She is not incredibly important politically in the Fire Nation. Her family disowned her many years ago and Ty Lee has not set foot in the Fire Nation since she broke up with Azula.

"Why am I here?" Ty Lee finally asks, unnerved by his silence.

"Because of your girlfriend."

"We broke up years ago," Ty Lee says without thinking. She likely should keep her mouth shut to avoid being killed. It probably would have been in her best interest to let them believe that Azula would be looking for her.

The man examines his fingers. "That would be for the best if it weren't too late."

"Did she hire you?" Ty Lee asks exasperatedly. So help her, if Azula hired _kidnappers_...

"No. But you are everything that's wrong with her."

"Okay, that's ridiculous," Ty Lee snaps, wriggling against the handcuffs. If she could just get her limbs free enough she could harm this guy.

"It's not at all. Her descent, her _softening _towards Zuko. All on you," he says and Ty Lee grits her teeth. She does not have the patience for this. "It displeases people who wanted to see her go in the right direction for the Fire Nation."

"No one would accept Azula as Fire Lord. At least the Avatar wouldn't. And she doesn't want that anymore."

"She doesn't want that anymore because she would rather have _you_."

"You sound like her father," Ty Lee spits, trying to remove her ankles.

"Princess Azula _is _coming for you," he says and she looks up at him, her eyes boring into his bones. "And we're going to make a show of it."

"If you hurt me, she won't cooperate. If that's even what you want," Ty Lee replies bitterly.

"I think that she'll come to her senses eventually. All we want is to restore the greatness of the Fire Nation. Surely, you're willing to make sacrifices for that." His tone is mocking.

"I love the Fire Nation. _You _are not the Fire Nation."

Silence.

And he is gone, without another word.

Ty Lee closes her eyes.

* * *

><p>Mai, Azula, Suki and Zuko now arrive in the forest to the far west of Caldera. They have soldiers waiting for them as they decide to go in alone, heavily armed and with the annotated map in Zuko's hands. It will be risky, and Suki tried to convince Zuko to stay behind and let them handle it, but he said he needed to help and no one could argue with him, even Azula murmuring, <em>'And if we both die there's no one to be Fire Lord.'<em>

The situation has grown more awkward between Mai and Zuko, and Azula would enjoy the discomfort if she were not so worried about Ty Lee. And how the last thing she did was scream at her and fight with her, and now she could be dead or worse.

"This is incredibly uncomfortable," Mai murmurs as she looks at Suki whispering in Zuko's ear and pointing out a pond on the map. She nods for them to look for it.

Mai does not like how Zuko is looking at her despite his girlfriend who he clearly loves. And Azula is completely amped up on her adrenaline and fear from the abduction of Ty Lee. It is not a situation Mai is happy to be in.

"I think you're making it uncomfortable for yourself," Azula says as they walk. "Suki, when Mai and Zuko broke up for the third time after he tried to propose to her and she said no, they negotiated for each other's belongings. Mai tried to get full custody of me."

"Okay, Azula," Mai says as Zuko grits his teeth and tries to focus on the map, "he fed you blueberries that day. I was trying to help."

Suki looks confused for a moment before asking, "Are you allergic to blueberries?"

Azula shakes her head and Mai says, "No. She doesn't trust them."

"Blueberries are a... fruit. You don't trust a fruit?" Suki inquires, furrowing her brow. Zuko slowly shakes his head and continues looking for the pond.

"You never know what's hiding in them," Azula replies casually with a shrug. "Is it poison? Insects? Gouged out internal organs? You never know."

"That's... not the most illogical thing I've ever heard you say," Suki whispers, feeling the discomfort Mai remarked on.

"Zuko refuses to eat tomatoes because they remind him of human hearts," Azula remarks sharply, on the defense, and Zuko sighs. "People have weird feelings about food."

"I don't," Suki says with a small shrug and a concerned wrinkle of her brow.

"Well, that's because you come from Starvation Island of the Impoverished or something. Hunting diseased birds and other filthy animals with rocks," Azula purrs and Suki just rolls her eyes. It is typical.

"And penguin otters," Mai says and Azula gasps pointedly. "Yeah. The cuter an animal is, the more those water savages want to eat it."

"Why don't we split up?" Suki suggests curtly and forcefully, trying to remember that Azula's girlfriend was just kidnapped and she is under duress. And that Mai is likely frustrated that Zuko no longer chases after her like a poodle-monkey.

"Gladly. You guys can go have sex and Azula and I will rescue Ty Lee," Mai says, seizing Azula's arm before she can protest.

Suki opens her mouth to protest but they are gone. She just shakes her head and turns to Zuko.

"I know that they're horrible," Zuko sighs, rubbing his neck.

"Are you really afraid of tomatoes?" Suki asks quietly, a small smile on her lips.

"Yes." Zuko is silent after that begrudging confession. He pauses as Suki is laughing. "Alright, well, I'm not _afraid _of them. I just don't like eating them because they remind me of human hearts. And who wants to eat human hearts?"

"No one," Suki replies with a small smile. These are the things she loves about Zuko. The absurd, ridiculous quirks that make so little sense. And believe her, he has a lot of them.

Amongst his responsibility, which drew her to him over Sokka, he also has a side of him that is funny. And his passion is strong, even though he becomes muted and more level headed with years in a leadership position. Passion, the ability to admit that he is scared to eat tomatoes and the responsibility to care for Azula and a Nation that does things like the Scorched Summer. Mai missed out. Suki would have said yes if Zuko proposed to her.

"I'm really worried about what that guy said," Zuko admits openly and Suki shrugs with a sigh. She is too. "About us not liking what we find."

"It's... probably going to be okay," Suki says but she does not think it is true. "At least, I hope it will be."

"We all do," Zuko replies, looking towards the side of the woods where Azula and Mai are walking. "Well, I guess they didn't fly so well."

Suki can only laugh hollowly.

* * *

><p>"We found something!" Azula calls an hour later, running to Zuko and Suki. Mai is close behind her, holding Azula's wrist. "We found the door to a bunker or vault."<p>

Suki's gut clenches, her insides feeling like steel. Whatever is in there will not be good. It simply cannot be. But she nods sharply and she and Zuko follow Azula and Mai, leaping over the thick underbrush and spinning around wide and thin trees alike.

Zuko tugs on the entrance to the bunker and cannot manage despite his muscles. Azula shoves him out of the way and melts a gap in the metal before setting her feet through and dropping down as Mai reaches to stop her.

"Well, I guess we're going into the creepy tunnel now," Mai sighs, glancing at Zuko and Suki. Neither of them moves to go down first, so she sighs and follows Azula into the darkness.

She hits the floor and is insanely glad she did not land in water or die from the fall. The room smells like dust and is the color of ash. Mai walks towards the blue light ahead of her, glancing once over her shoulder to see if Zuko and Suki followed them.

"Uh, Azula," Mai says as she sees the princess fixated on the path in front of her.

"Mhm?" Azula does not seem to be listening, but Mai needs to tell her anyway.

"I want you to be ready for what could've happened. I mean, they said you wouldn't like what you saw," Mai says, feeling the ground squelch under her shoes. Ick.

"We're not going to let that happen," Azula says fiercely and Mai rubs her lips together. She does not want this to have a gruesome end either, but she has a feeling that this is not as easy as walking in and busting Ty Lee out of a prison.

"Just... it'll be okay, I guess," Mai offers, wanting to say much more. Azula does not respond.

"I know it will," Azula says sharply and Mai bites her lip.

Something scuffs behind them and Azula turns around with both hands ablaze and Mai with glistening knives drawn.

"It's us, it's us," Suki says, she and Zuko running to catch up with Mai and Azula. "Do you know where we're going?"

Mai looks at Azula expectantly but the princess only shrugs.

It is then that they hit the first resistance of their entrance. Foot-soldier rebels coming directly at them with flames and blades. Mai catches an arrow going for her face and throws it back, piercing the assailant through the chest. A bolt of lightning strikes the tip of a sword, slowly electrocuting a man lunging at Azula.

Suki slashes two men with her sword, ending their lives. And Zuko blocks three fists of flame and burns the man with his own counterattack.

The hall is empty again.

"They didn't try very hard," Azula remarks, feeling suspicious now. She thought that perhaps the prisoner they interrogated was just trying to scare her. But these men were waiting for them, and they clearly wanted to leave the quartet alive.

Azula's question is answered as they reach the main room. It is an abandoned war bunker, certainly. The decrepit furnishings are made of steel, and above a ladder is a balcony looking over where soldiers would be addressed.

This time Mai grabs Azula before she harms herself. She had started running towards the ladder, because from the top rung, Ty Lee hangs by the wrists.

"Let go, you─!" Azula is interrupted by the room flooding with soldiers who look far more intent on killing them than the handful of masked men who met the quartet in the tunnels.

"You go for the ladder. We'll take them out," Suki says to Azula before pushing on her back. Mai releases her and starts fighting.

Azula pushes her way through, burning everything in her path. Suki hacks and slashes impressively, Zuko is almost as good, and Mai is certainly not out of practice. Azula dives between the legs of a man before kicking fire onto his shoulder from behind and cracking his neck with her heel.

The ladder seems further away than she thought it was as she runs. An axe comes directly at her and she steps to the side, watching it collide with the chest of another rebel. She runs from that, dodging another projectile.

She glances at her companions as she sets one hand on the ladder and starts to climb. Suki is locked in a swordfight and Zuko shouts to warn her of the man with broadswords approaching her from behind as he blocks fire. She leans backwards, rappelling her blade off of the sword in front of her and stabbing the man behind her in the chest, before moving forward and slicing the neck of her confused opponent.

Mai has just slit a throat with a flick of her wrist. But the room seems to never end. This feels like the _entire _Fire Nation, not just the violent retired soldiers of the New Ozai Society. But Azula keeps climbing. She reaches the top and heaves herself up above Ty Lee.

Azula rips the blindfold off.

"Azula, you have to go now!" is the first thing she says.

"No. I came to rescue you," Azula snaps, starting to untie the knots on Ty Lee's wrists.

"They _wanted _you to come here," Ty Lee hisses as Azula fumbles with the ropes.

"Yes, but we're leaving," Azula responds and Ty Lee rolls her protuberant eyes.

Someone grabs her by the shoulder and she lifts a fist of fire. But he grabs it, stifling the flame. He pushes Azula off of him and she barely catches herself on the guardrails of the balcony.

"General Hoang," Azula says, pushing herself to her feet.

"It's a pleasure to see you. And this girl thought you weren't coming," he says and Azula studies him closely. She does not light a flame or start a strike, but she slips into a defensive stance. "I'm here to make you an offer."

"I don't think you've made the best impression," Azula says, gesturing to the battle below.

"Let me clarify," General Hoang says, reaching down and holding a knife to the ropes on Ty Lee's wrists. "I'm here to make you an offer you can't refuse."

"Don't you dare," Azula says, but her voice shakes. _Damn _it her voice shakes.

"I won't. So long as you agree. We want you on the throne. We want your cooperation, seeing as you've been fighting _against _your best allies," General Hoang explains, stripping away a single thread of the rope. Ty Lee's eyes bulge as she looks at the drop onto the bloodied battlefield below.

"The Avatar would put a stop to it instantly. You have to realize that," Azula snarls.

Another frayed thread of rope pops free.

Azula continues, her heart beating out of her chest, "You saw what he did to my father. You think I can resist that?"

"I think you'll have a nation on your side. And I think you're not in a position to bargain." Another fray. Ty Lee drops several inches with a small shriek. "You had so much potential as a leader." Another thread. "Time is slipping away."

Azula hesitates. They are even more deluded than she thought they were. If the New Ozai Society were competent, Azula would have joined them. Or maybe not. Zuko has been better to her than any nationalist ever has. She finds herself strangely loyal to her brother, even if he is a joke of a Fire Lord.

She lunges forward to tackle him before he hits Ty Lee, and his foot collides with her rib. Her back hits the wall as he slices the rope. Ty Lee barely dangles, kicking one of her feet back to balance on the ladder. It will not hold her forever, but maybe it can buy Azula time.

As General Hoang lifts his knife to Azula, a sword plunges into his back. And he falls, falls, falls. Blood washes over Ty Lee's face as his corpse tumbles past her, and she seizes Azula's hand as the princess slides across the metal.

The fight stops, although few of the assailants are left standing after attacking Mai, Zuko and Suki. Azula looks down and sees that the person who threw the sword that killed General Hoang is... Suki. _Suki_.

Ty Lee presses her lips against Azula's. Maybe it is the adrenaline possessing her, or maybe not, but she holds onto Azula, not wanting to ever let go. Their lips do not part even as they suffocate each other.

Finally, the kiss breaks.

"Let's get the fuck out of here," Ty Lee whispers.

* * *

><p>"Zuko," Azula says as they make it to Caldera, "you and Suki have my approval."<p>

"I don't need it," Zuko says, bristling slightly.

"I know you don't need it. But you have it. You can date her now," Azula continues and Zuko rolls his eyes.

Zuko changes the subject to, "So the New Ozai Society wanted you to be Fire Lord?"

"As incompetently as most of what they do. It was a pretty sad attempt," Azula admits with a small laugh. Her chest is still tight and sore from the terror, but she acts cavalier and unaffected.

"It's a pretty pathetic rebellion," Zuko remarks, although they honestly terrify him.

"But really, you two have my approval."

"Don't need it."

"_But _you have it."

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry," Azula says softly as soon as she and Ty Lee are back in the palace. Night has fallen and Azula pulls Ty Lee by the hand to her bedroom. "I'm so sorry about what I said in the park."<p>

"I screamed at you too," Ty Lee replies with a small shrug. "But thank you. I don't think you've ever apologized to me before."

"There's a first time for everything," Azula replies, touching Ty Lee's hand gently. "Including what I'm about to say."

"Mhm?" Ty Lee suddenly feels nervous.

"I... I really care about you. A lot," Azula says, looking genuinely pained and uncomfortable, as if someone is slowly pushing nails into her legs. "I love you and that's why I'm so terrible, and I know I really don't deserve you at this point. I know I tease you and then shut you out. And that my idea of romance is manipulating you into staying with me against your will."

"Azula..." but Ty Lee stops speaking at the princess's face.

"But all facades and superficial charm aside, I have been in love with you for my whole life. You don't have to marry me or stay. You can leave any time you want," Azula says with a shrug.

All Ty Lee can think about is what General Hoang said to her. And she leans forward and presses her lips against Azula's fiercely. Azula's hand slips behind her back, holding them together for the breathless moment of union.

"That's all I ever wanted to hear," Ty Lee whispers into Azula's ear, her hot breath tickling Azula's neck.

Her hips invite Ty Lee, her lips are like wine, her golden body feels strangely soft and ethereal in Ty Lee's hands. And her soul is woven of starlight. All of those things, Ty Lee wants to be hers. And all of those things, Azula is willing to give. _Almost _for free.

They fall into each other fiercely. Tantalizing, intoxicating kisses in the darkness as the moonlight trickles through the window, making patterns on their skin. Ty Lee's touch has a delicate, tempting nature and Azula grasps for it desperately.

Ty Lee traces her fingertips up Azula's abdomen, barely making contact with her skin. It is painful in a pleasurable way which makes very little sense to Azula. Her fingertips brush against the princess's cleavage and Azula's nipples harden.

Azula pulls her down to the bed, pinning her there. She is here, they are now, something like that. And Ty Lee is never going to escape Azula's grasp again. So long as she does not leave with the Kyoshi Warriors.

Princess Azula straddles Ty Lee, pulling off her shirt. It makes her hair fall messily around her as the static burns from the fabric slipping over her neck. But that feels far less electric that Azula's hips against Ty Lee's.

And they grind against each other in the night, wondering when and how they lost their way.

They lie awake when it is over. Azula stares at the ceiling, still feeling slightly nauseous from earlier. Ty Lee has her eyes closed but Azula can tell from her uneven breathing that she is not asleep yet. Are they afraid to talk to each other? Or is the silence comfortable? Azula is not entirely sure.

"You do care about me, don't you?" Ty Lee says abruptly and Azula jumps in surprise. "I kinda knew, I guess. If I didn't know I probably would've broken up with you a lot earlier."

"I don't want to talk about it," Azula says haughtily, but her voice cracks just slightly.

Ty Lee turns to face her, her body twisting against the blankets making a light _swoosh _sound. "Come on. It's not like you have anything to lose."

Azula smirks at her own words repeated. "No, I guess I don't. Hm, perhaps losing everything has its benefits."

"I am way better than being Fire Lord," Ty Lee says and Azula just shakes her head. "Agree to disagree."

"Hmph." Azula pretends to go to sleep as Ty Lee shakes with silent giggles beside her.

Ty Lee could see how relieved Azula was when she saved her.

And now she has decided what her answer is.

* * *

><p>"I wanted to ask you something," Azula says softly, leaning against the balcony.<p>

They are in the royal plaza, on the balcony where announcements are made. It is the dead of the night and the moon is high in the sky. There has not been a hurricane for several days and the land around she and Ty Lee is dry for the first time since the Kyoshi Warriors arrived.

The constellations are those of autumn. And the withered leaves have collected on top of the balcony. The Scorched Summer is finally over and Azula is eternally grateful.

"Mhm," and Ty Lee thinks she knows what it will be. And she thinks she knows how she is going to answer.

"Ty Lee," Azula says regally as the acrobat walks towards her and leans forward over the balcony, looking out at the sparkling yellow lights of Caldera. "Will you marry me?"

"Yes."

"Not maybe leaning towards yes?" Azula asks teasingly and Ty Lee smirks faintly.

"Just yes. I don't think I can handle another public fit like that."

"Oh, well, you best get used to them if you're going to marry me," Azula teases in response.

"You're less ecstatic about my yes than I thought you'd be," Ty Lee sighs, pouting. But her sullen expression quickly transforms into a smile; she cannot hold the mocking face for long.

Azula slips to the side and kisses Ty Lee on the lips.

They wait for the sunrise of the first day of autumn together.

The Scorched Summer is over, and forever together begins.

**The End**


End file.
